Adjustable skirt hanger



July 15, 1947. F. L. BUXTON 2,423,961

ADJUSTABLE SKIRT HANGER Filed Feb. 4, 1946 Absage/cfm. Saffo/v,

:Nl/mma Afro/aven Patented July 15, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE2,423,961 ADJUSTABLE sxmtr HANGER Frederick L. auml, North nnuywoea,cam. Application February 4, 1946, Serial No. 645,281; (ci. 223-94) 3Claims. 1 This invention relates generally to hangers, and morespecifically to an adjustable skirt hanger adapted to support one ormore skirts thereon. It is an object of this invention to provide anadjustable skirt hanger with a hook which may be readily folded on thecentral body portion of the hanger so as not to hook into or engageclothes or other materials in the event the hanger is stored in a grip,trunk, or other receptacle.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an adjustable skirthanger with manually operable release means for readily and rapidly`releasing the hanger from the skirt or skirts engaged therewith.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an adjustable skirthanger adapted to engage the interior of a waistband of a skirt orplurality of skirts and which may be readily adjusted to fit skirts ofdifferent sizes.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an adjustable skirthanger wherein the skirt-engaging portions are resiliently urgedoutwardly engaging the interior of the waistband of a skirt or pluralityof skirts in a positive manner.

It is also an object of this invention to provide an adjustable skirthanger wherein the skirtengaging portions are furcated so as to supporta plurality oi' skirts.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an adjustable skirthanger wherein the furcated, skirt-engaging portions of the hanger arepivotally mounted so that a limited rotation of the furcated,skirt-engaging portions may take place so that-one skirt may be removedfrom the hanger without disturbing the oth'er skirt or skirts. l

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a front view of a hanger illustrating a diil'erent embodimentof the invention.

Fig. 3 is a top sectional view taken along lines III-III of Fig. 2showing the internalconstruction of the hanger.

Fig. 4 is a front fragmentary view of the modification shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is an end view of Fig. 4.

Generally speaking, the first embodiment of my invention comprises ahollow, cylindrical, lon.. gitudinal body portion, said body portionhaving longitudinal slots in the sides near the ends thereof. A coilcompression spring is mounted within said hollow longitudinal bodyportion. vA cylindrical. movable element is coaxially, partiallyinserted into each end of the hollow cylindical, longitudinal bodyportion and abuts said coil compression spring. A retaining pin or rivetis inserted through the inner end of each of said movable, cylindricalelements. Each of the retaining pins or rivets cooperates with the slotsin the walls of the hollow body member so as to allow limited, coaxial,longitudinal movement of the movable, cylindrical elements with saidhollow body portion. A manual release member is also -connected to each'retaining pin.w The purpose of this manual release member is to make itpossible to move with one hand both movable, cylindrical elementscoaxially inwardly within the hollow body portion against the forceexerted by the coil compression spring. Each of the movable elementspartially mounted within the hollow body portion has a furcated skirtsupporting or holding member mounted on the outer end thereof. 'Thesefurcated, skirt supporting or holding members preferably have notches inthe outer edges thereof so as to firmly engage the inner side of thewaistband of the skirt to be supported. Said furcated, skirt supportingor holding members are i'lxed to the outer ends of the movable elementsby means of pinsor any other suitable means.

A hook is connected to a hole in the center of the hollow, cylindricalbody portion. In the illustration shown, the hook includes two laterallyspaced sections and is pivotally mounted in the hole in the center ofsaid body portion so that it may be pivoted so as to embrace the bodyportion between the lateral sections. The portions of -the hook enteringthe hole in the center of the body portion serve also to nx the centerportion of the coil compression spring. However, said hook may be ofconventional construction, if so desired. n

More specifically, a hollow, longitudinal', cylindrical body portion Ihas mounted in the center thereof a coil compression spring 2. Acylindrical, movable element 3 is coaxially, partially inserted withinthe outer end 4 ofthe hollow. cylindrical body portion l and abuts theright-hand end, as viewed in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, of coil compressionspring 2. A cylindrical, movable element 5 is inserted in the end 6 ofthe hollow, cylindrical -body portion I and abuts theleft-hand end ofcoil compression spring 2, as viewed in Figs. 1, 2, and 3. 'I'he hollowbody portion l has longitudinal slots 1 and 8 in the sides near the endsland 6 thereof. Slots l and 8 extend laterally through bothlwalls oi'the hollow, cylindrical -body portion 'I'he inner end of the movableelement 3 has mounted thereon a manual release member by means of aretaining pin or rivet Il which cooperates with the slot I for allowinglimited longitudinal coaxial movement of the movable element 3. Theinner end of the movable element l has mounted thereon a manual releasemember II and a retaining pin or rivet I2 which cooperates with slot 1for allowing a limited longitudinal movement of the movable element I.

A hook I3 Ipivotally engages a hole I4 through the center of the bodyportion I. Said hook Il is formed from one long, continuous piece ofwire or wire shaped material which is bent back upon itself forming twolaterally spaced sections. The two ends of said wire or wire-likematerial, which lit into the hole Il in the body portion I, engage thecentral portion of the coil compression spring 2, thus immobilizing saidcentral portion of the coil 2. This allows hook I3 to be folded down soas to encompass the body portion I and be out oi the way when sodesired.

A downwardly extending, bifurcated, skirt supporting or holding elementI is mounted on the outer end of the movable element 3. The bifurcatedskirt supporting or holding element I5 maybe spot welded, riveted,retained by a suitable pin or mounted in any other suitable manner onthe outer end of said movable element 3. A similar, downwardlyextending, blfurcated skirt supporting or holding element I8 is mountedon the outer end of movable element 5 in a manner similar to themounting .of the bifurcated, skirt holding element I5. Both of saidbifurcated, skirt holding elements I5 and I6 may be provided and areshown in the illustrations with notches I1 for more ilrmly engaging theinner surface of a skirt waistband.

In the operation of the device, the manual release members 9 and II aremanually grasped and moved toward each other, thus compressing the coilcompression spring 2 and inwardly, coaxially moving the movable elements3 and 5 and the bifurcated skirt holding elements I5 and I6. Thisreduces the overall length of thehanger and allows the hanger to beinserted within a waistband of a skirt. The manual release elements 9and Il are then released, allowing the coil compression spri'ng 2 toforce the movable elements l and 5 and corresponding bifurcated skirtholding elements I5 and I8 in an outward direction, thus ilrmly engagingthe interior of the skirt waistband. 'I'he notches I'I will firmly gripthe interior of the skirt waistband.

Referring to Figs. 2, 4 and 5, a modified form of the skirt holdingelement is shown. A downwardly extending, bifurcated, notched skirtsupporting or holding element I8 is rotatably mounted Within a lateralslot I9 within the outer end of the movable element 20 by means of a pin0r stud 2 I. This allows the skirt holding element I5 to rotate about avertical axis to a limited degree. Both of the skirt holding elementsmay be mounted in this manner in the modified version of my invention.This modication makes it possible to mount two skirts on the hanger atthe same time, one side of a ilrst skirt being mounted on the portion 22of the bifurcated skirt holding element and one side of a` second skirtbeing mounted on the portion 23 of the bifurcated skirt holding element.Either skirt may be removed from the hanger without disturbing the otherby merely rotating the portion 22 or the portion 23 of the bifurcatedskirt holding element I8, thus releasing the tension on one skirt whileretaining it on the other. It can readily be understood that -4 thisprinciple may be extended so as to include rurcated sldrt holdingelements with more than two portions therein andcapable of supportingmore than two skirts.-

It is to be clearly and distinctly understood that the hollow,cylindrical body portion I and the movable elements 3 and 5 whichtelescopically engage therewith might be rearranged so that the centralbody portion would be a Cylindrical, longitudinal body portion and themovable elements would be hollow, longitudinal, cylindrical memberswhich would be slipped over the outer ends of the body portion. A coilspring would be placed inside each of the hollow, cylindrical,

movable elements so as to abut the outer ends of the body portion. Thehollow, cylindricah movable elements would also be provided withlongitudinal slots in the sides thereof --and the outer ends of saidbody portion would be iitted within said hollow, cylindrical, movableelements abutting the ends of said coil. Retaining pin means or rivetswould be inserted through the outer ends of said body portion so as tocooperate with the slots in the movable elements and allow limitedlongitudinal, coaxial movement of said movable elements. Manual releasemeans might be operably connected tothe inner ends of said hollow,cylindrical, movable elements to facilitate moving saidielementsinwardly. A hook might be provided engaging the center portion of saidbody portion in a manner similar to that shown in the first embodimentof my invention. The bifurcated skirt supporting or holding elementsmight be mounted on the outer ends of said hollow, cylindrical, movableelements in a manner similar to that shown in the first embodiment of myinvention. Thus it can be seen that this modiiied version is essentiallythe same as the first version of my invention, the engagement betweenthe movable elements and the body portion being telescopic as in the rstemboditwo versions are in every sense equivalent.

Thus it can be seen that I have provided a small, cheap, light-weight,fool-proof skirt hanger adapted to accomplish all of .the objects setforth. Such hanger may be made of aluminum, plastic or any othersuitable material. The examples given are for illustrative purposes andit can readily be understood that many modifications and variations ofmy invention will be readily suggested to those skilled in the art and Ido notvlimit myself to the specidc examples given. My invention islimited only by the scope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

l. An adjustable skirt hanger comprising: a tubular, hollow bodyportion; aligned, longitudinally extending slots adjacent ends ofthe'body portion; a cylindrical, movable element mounted in each end ofthe body portion and extending therefrom; retaining means carried byeach of said elements and cooperatively engaging a slot in the bodyportion;v spring means positioned within the body portion and normallyurging the elements. outwardly; a downwardly extending holding membercarried by the outer end of each movable element, one atleast of saidholding body portion, said hook being pivotally connected to the bodyportion and including two laterally spaced sections whereby the hook maybe pivoted to embrace the body portion between said sections, a portionof the hook extending into the body portion to anchor the spring meanstherein; and upwardly extending, manually movable release means operablyconnected to inner ends o! the movable elements through said body slots.

2. An adjustable skirt hanger comprising: a longitudinal, cylindricalbody portion; a hollow, movable element mounted on each end of the bodyportion and extending therefrom; a longitudinally extending slot in eachof said movable elements; retaining means carried by the body portionand cooperatively engaging the slots in the movable elements; springmeans positioned within the hollow movable elements and normally urgingsaid elements outwardly; a downwardly extending holding member carriedby the outer end of each movable element, one at least of said holdingmembers being furcated and mounted for limited pivotal movement on theend of the movable element about a vertical axis: a hook carried by thebody portion, said hook being pivotally connected to the body portionand including two laterally spaced sections whereby the hook may bepivoted to embrace the body portion between said sections; and upwardlyextendbody portion and normally urging the said eleing, manually movablerelease means operably 30 connected toinner ends of the movableelements.

3. adjustable skirt` hanger including a tubular@ hollow body portion,aligned, longitudinalments outwardly, a downwardly extending holdingmember carried by the outer `end of each of said elements, one of saidholding members being furcated and mounted for limited pivotal movementon the end of one of said elements and arranged to turn about a verticalaxis and manually movable release means operably connected adjacent theends of said elements and through said slots for sliding the saidelements relative to said body portion.

FREDERICK L. BUXTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the ille ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,247,551 Lendle Nov. 20, 19172,336,849 McCaffrey Apr. 13, 1920 1,670,938 Printz et al May 22, 19281,922,161 Hille Aug. 15, 1933 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date280,983 Germany Dec. 3, 1914

